“I’m fighting my fight, and I’m not alone anymore”: The influence of communities of inquiry
Abstract
This case study explores an urban secondary literacy teacher’s involvement in communities of inquiry over time. I draw on data from a multiyear study that documented the intellectual work of a community of teacher candidates I worked with as an instructor in a literacy methods course and cofounder of an inquiry community they participated in during their first two years in the classroom. Using document analysis and interviews with the focal teacher, Laura, conducted five years after the initial study, I explore how participation in critical inquiry-based teacher education and teacher research communities in her early years in the classroom led Laura to initiate change-oriented collaborations in her ongoing professional practice. I conclude with a discussion of how inquiry can support preservice and inservice teachers—particularly those working in embattled and underfunded urban schools in a time of heightened accountability—to develop activist orientations toward educational policy, critical solidarity with peers, and relational approaches to educating diverse students.
Reference
Simon, R. (2015). "I'm fighting my fight, and I'm not alone anymore": The influence of communities of inquiry. English Education, 48(1), 41-71.
Journal
English Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
yes
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
- Critical Literacy (transforming practices)
- Secondary
- social justice
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
Preservice Sample Size
1
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- conference proposals
- course materials
- digital products
- Document Analysis
- fieldnotes
- Informal conversations
- Interviews
- Observations
- research papers
- Transcriptions
Data Analysis Tools
- Case study analysis
- coding (emergent categories)
- Content analysis
- critical incidents
- Document analysis
- Ethnographic analysis
- Thematic analysis
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
to explore how inquiry can support preservice and inservice teachers—particularly those working in embattled and underfunded urban schools in a time of heightened accountability—to develop activist orienta- tions toward educational policy, critical solidarity with peers, and relational approaches to educating urban students
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes